An elderly Forumista writes ......

[kernelbogey]

Having discovered that I was going to be listening, not to Martin Handley, but to Ms Alker's impression of an excitable puppy introducing 'Crackerjack' or 'Blue Peter', I headed to my CD collection....

Yes, I got caught too, forgetting that Martin had warned us last week that he would be rehearsing Gilbert and Sullivan today.

My CD choice was Scarlatti on piano (Pletnev).

I think the, er, Slim Controller owes us an extra day of Martin: so how about a Saturday and Sunday Breakfast weekend soon with Martin?

[Richard Tarleton]

Penny Gore, Catriona Young - and Catherine Bott, Susan Sharp, Louise Fryer all departed these shores - are/were fine. Penny Gore was good on Morning on 3, the least demanding programme on Radio 3 until Breakfast and Essential Classics came along.

...Lucie Skeaping, Stephanie....name escapes me, from Northern Ireland, excellent presenter of playlist programmes. As a general rule of thumb, the better they were the more likely they were to have been got rid of by Roger Wright, who preferred...what, exactly?

And there are Fiona Talkington, Sara Mohr-Pietsch, Nicola Heywood Thomas - many excellent female presenters. It's just that the better they are, the less likely they are to be found presenting flagship morning R3 programmes these days.

[kernelbogey]

... It’s important to speak as we find. I find Elizabeth Alker’s morning show pretty terrible.... As regards personalising comments.....”.presenter led” is the choice of R3. The personalised response is absolutely inevitable, and justified as long as it is based on how they do the job....

Speaking purely personally, I agree with TS.

I think it is ok to comment on the professionalism, competence and so on of a presenter, female or male. That's part of what this Forum is about. As I said, writing personally.

[Cockney Sparrow]

Has Pennny Gore left? I hope not.
The thought had occured to me a few months ago that as she doesn't gush, sounds professional and well informed her days might be numbered.... I never felt I heard her indulge in the triviality and relentless self and BBC promotion but it might just have been the slots she worked in - Afternoons etc.

I think Martin Handley might have built up the required number of shows in advance? - some Saturdays as well as Sundays, particularly around the Christmas period.

[kernelbogey]

Has Pennny Gore left? I hope not.

I have the impression that she is 'retired' - but 'helps out' now and again'? Always welcome!

[Andy Freude]

I have the impression that she is 'retired' - but 'helps out' now and again'? Always welcome!

She's on Afternoon Concert next week. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000dqfm

(At least, that's her photo)

[DracoM]

It does for me - that's why I almost never listen to R3 Live these days, preferring the i-Player, which enables me to edit out all presentation.

[LMcD]

Leaving aside asking why you believe this to be a "pity", this isn't happening. These recordings are easily available online - the chance is theirs at any time of day, every day of every year.

That's fine if you're already an enthusiast and know what you're looking for - I just think that BBC Radio's neglect of the music of this period reduces the chances of folks who are unaware of it coming across it by chance. And there should be room for at least the occasional item on 'Friday Night Is BBC 4 Music Night', if only to give viewers a break from the eternal re-runs of TOTP.
In response to #33, I agree with kernelbogey - criticism of a particular presenter's competence or style should not be regarded as a personal attack.

[Serial_Apologist]

That's fine if you're already an enthusiast and know what you're looking for - I just think that BBC Radio's neglect of the music of this period reduces the chances of folks who are unaware of it coming across it by chance.

That's right.

[burning dog]

That's right.

I think daytime R2 would benefit from some older "popular music" and some light foreign stuff. When I heard it last, a couple of years ago, I could have sworn it was a mid 1980s recording of the Radio One "Steve Wright In The Afternoon" Show with 2018 news on the hour. He even played Christopher Cross!

[antongould]

Plenty of male presenters get flak hereabouts. A McG, Tom Service, Ron Shafferty, that bloke whose name I forget who does quite a lot of the concerts in the north .And plenty of the women get near universal acclaim , EG. Sarahs Walker and M-P, Penny Gore, Nicola Heywood Thomas etc.

It’s important to speak as we find. I find Elizabeth Alker’s morning show pretty terrible, but her concert presentation is fine. Kate Molleson is variable, but just on far too often. And so on.
Sometimes we find what we seek.

As regards personalising comments.....”.presenter led” is the choice of R3. The personalised response is absolutely inevitable, and justified as long as it is based on how they do the job. Or possibly how they got the job.

Eminently sensible as usual ts ..... I was going to reply to Draco’s question on the Irving Berlin thread and say it matters not a jot to me about the presenter .... but the I heard Jess for the first time and couldn’t stand the giggles and snatches of music so switched off ..... I like presenters who, to me at least seem enthusiastic .... Skellers, Petroc the Breather and yes Alkers and McKate plus a long time favourite SMP ..... and I am not sure that I am happy that Alkers, to me at least, seems to be trying to ditch the accent .....

[StephenMcK]

Radio 2 was the last bastion of music BROADcasting and provided a running survey, more or less, of the history of recorded music; but now it almost has an allergy to its former self.

A few years back they'd commissioned Danny Green to do a show based on his father's (Benny Green) wondrous celebration and exploration of the great American songbook. A Radio 2 feature for some twenty years.

I was delighted at this, but when I tuned in, it was that repertoire but in the worst pop renditions (The More I See You/Chris Montez, Blue Moon/The Marcels and other desperate la-la-la covers). Clearly the network had since developed a fear, a resentment even, of a genre that was once so much its staple.

Perhaps it was something of a miracle that 'The Organist Entertains' hung in there till 2018; and yet, thank goodness, the BBC Concert Orchestra is still very much present.

I've been to several Friday Night Is Music Night recordings and they really are a good band. Far better than you'd get on the average cigar!

Therein, actually, is a point relevant to this discussion.

What they call the Millennial's now are very well educated, but they can be terribly lacking in historical breadth. They're so in the moment that they rarely have time for a backward glance.

Take the cigar joke, for example. You'd have to explain that to too many people now who wouldn't know that fancy, expensive cigars the likes of Montecristo had (have) decorative paper bands on them which were originally to protect the white gloves of gentleman attending gala balls and the like.

Now, fine cigars and gala balls were not a feature of my growing up, but it's just one of those things I know.

I have two nephews well into their twenties and countless are the times they'll shut me down for referencing something that is not of their immediate ken.

And this is why it's right to mourn the shrinking scope of music radio, as LMcD does. Yes, there all kinds of wonderful things on Spotify and YouTube that one can go and look for, but it's not the same as the chance encounter one used to find on the radio.

Indisputably, I was born middle aged, practically asking the midwife for my pipe and slippers the moment I popped out of the womb. Consequently, I have a closed ear to most pop music, but I remember when I used to listen to Sounds of Jazz with Peter Clayton on Radio 2 on Sunday evenings.

Now, in those days, discerning pop pickers may recall, Radio 1 had the VHF frequency up till 10pm with John Peel before handing over to Radio 2. So as not to miss the top of my show I'd tune in early and hear the most terrible stuff that he'd be playing, but when I later became a working radio producer having to work with pop music, that exposure (also to Peel's commentary) turned out to be invaluable.

I came to the field with a degree of context and that's the great value of the chance encounter.


NB. Btw, Penny Gore did a stint on Radio3 a couple of weeks back and it was a delight. The radio stayed on throughout.

[DracoM]

Too little Verity Sharpe for my liking.
What does she do these days? Hear her pretty infrequently.

[antongould]

Radio 2 was the last bastion of music BROADcasting and provided a running survey almost of the history of recorded music, but now, it almost has an allergy to its former self.

A few years back I saw that they'd got Danny Green to do a show based on his father's (Benny Green) wondrous celebration and exploration of the great American songbook that ran for some twenty years on the network.

I was delighted at this, but when I tuned in, it was that repertoire but in the worst pop renditions (The More I See You/Chris Montez, Blue Moon/The Marcels and other desperate la la la covers). Radio 2 had since developed a fear, a resentment even, of the genre at its best.

Perhaps it was something of a miracle that 'The Organist Entertains' hung in there till 2018; and yet, thank goodness, the BBC Concert Orchestra is still very much present.

I've been to several Friday Night Is Music Night recordings and they really are a good band. Far better than you'd get on the average cigar!

Therein, actually, is a point relevant to this discussion.

What they call the Millennial's now are very well educated, but they can be terribly lacking in historical breadth. They're so in the moment that they rarely have time for a backward glance.

Take the cigar joke, for example. You'd have to explain that to too many people now who wouldn't know that fancy, expensive cigars the likes of Montecristo had (have) decorative paper bands on them which were originally to protect the white gloves of gentleman attending gala balls and the like.

Now, fine cigars and gala balls were not a feature of my growing up, but it's just one of those things I know.

I have two nephews well into their twenties and the number of times they'll shut you down for referencing something that is not of their immediate ken is countless.

And this is why it's right to mourn the shrinking scope of music radio, as LMcD does. Yes, there all kinds of wonderful things on Spotify and YouTube that one can go an look for, but it not the same as the chance encounter that one used to find on the radio.

There's no two ways about, I was born middle aged, practically asking the midwife to point me to my pipe and slippers just as soon as I emerged from the womb. Consequently, I have a closed ear to most pop music, but I often remember back to the days when I used to listen to Sounds of Jazz with Peter Clayton on Radio 2 on Sunday evenings.

Now, in those days, discerning pop pickers may recall, Radio 1 had the VHF frequency up till 10pm with John Peel and so as not to miss the top of my show I'd tune in early and hear the most terrible stuff that he'd be playing, but when I later became a working radio producer having to work with pop music, that exposure (also to Peel's commentary) turned out to be invaluable.

I came to the field with a degree of context and that's the great value of the chance encounter.


NB. Btw, Penny Gore did a stint on Radio3 a couple of weeks back and it was a delight. The radio stayed on throughout.

Excellent post IMVVHO young man .... Benny Green was wonderful ...

[DracoM]

.......and the much-missed John Peel.